fall inside a hole
Betamax tapes
Betamax tapes from different manufacturers. Click the images
for higher resolution
|
Sony |
Scotch - TDK |
BASF - Maxell - Fuji |
Other |
Commercial - Industrial |
BASF
 |
 |
 |
Early Japanese market BASF tape from the Beta-square logo era. An earlier BASF tape with the full "Betamax" name was also sold |
 |
 |
 |
BASF were the first company to offer a chrome formula Beta tape. This one predates the unified Beta logo |
 |
 |
 |
BASF sleeves were usually pretty nice for both VHS and Beta. These earlier tapes are a soft plastic. Interestingly, BASF decided to drop mentioning the Beta I runtime, but still left it as a heading in their runtime chart |
 |
 |
 |
Very slight variation with the rear Beta mark and runtime chart shifted over under the cutout |
 |
 |
 |
A slightly later "guarantee of a lifetime" variant. These plastic cases can split over time |
 |
 |
 |
Later BASF tapes changed to a heavy cardboard that was doubled over on itself to be nice and sturdy. This one also lists a Beta I runtime, unlike other 80s BASF tapes |
|
|
|
 |
Guarantee of a lifetime variant with UPC |
 |
 |
An extra quality variant |
Maxell
 |
 |
 |
The 1980's Maxell Epitaxial |
 |
 |
 |
The revised mid 80s Epitaxial that looks more "80s" with thickened 750, black lines between the stripes, and increased size of the Maxell name |
 |
 |
 |
UPC variant of the later 80s Maxell L750 |
 |
 |
 |
Similar design of Maxell HGX L750 hi-grade tape |
 |
 |
The standard Maxell Epitaxial for 1985 promoting the "Matching Money" game. Unfortunately, I don't have one of the game cards to scan | |
 |
 |
There are two very similar Maxell labels of this design, the other has black text by the checkmark boxes on the front cassette labels. I'm not sure which came first | |
 |
 |
 |
The stripey Maxell EX L750 |
 |
 |
 |
The mid 80s Maxell high grade tape, the HGX Gold |
 |
 |
 |
Japanese market EX L500, with a nice design printed on the plastic case. A similar design of VHS tape was also available |
 |
 |
Maxell EX L500 insert |
Fuji
 |
 |
 |
An earlier Japanese market Fuji L125 marked with the older style Beta logo and using the Beta symbol followed by a blank square name for the format |
 |
 |
Label sheet for the early Fuji L125 | |
 |
 |
 |
Similar early Japanese L500 from Fuji. The runtime chart uses an odd Beta symbol |
 |
 |
 |
Bilingual American market Fuji L500. Before the unified Beta symbol, many different manufacturers referred to Beta in different ways, and B-type as well as the Beta symbol with an empty square next to it were common ways to refer to Beta |
 |
 |
 |
A later Fuji L750 that uses the more common Beta designation. Like the earliest Sony L750s, it suggests making a test recording |
 |
 |
Labels for the American Fuji L750 | |
 |
 |
 |
Later on Fuji stopped recommending a test recording |
 |
 |
 |
Japanese market Fuji Super HG L500 |
 |
 |
 |
American market Fuji Super HG L750 |
 |
 |
 |
A later Fuji. All Fuji tapes I have seen come in soft plastic cases |
 |
 |
 |
The later super fine grain Beridox Super HG L750 |
 |
 |
 |
Later Japanese market Super HG L750 with a clear fronted plastic case and large tape window |
 |
 |
 |
Similarly designed Fuji Super HG L500 |
 |
 |
 |
A later Japanese Fuji Super AG L500. Shorter length tapes stayed more common in Japan, while the American market generally trended towards the L750 by the mid 1980s |
 |
 |
 |
Fuji Super AG L750 |
|
Sony |
Scotch - TDK |
BASF - Maxell - Fuji |
Other |
Commercial - Industrial |